


Interlude

by Fairia



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 11:58:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12481048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairia/pseuds/Fairia
Summary: Set between Chapters seven and eight of "When Duty and Desire Meet" by midnightstarlightwrites and EdenDaphne.Chat Noir just wanted to visit his girlfriend - falling asleep wasn't part of the plan. Neither was losing his transformation and waking up as Adrien. Good thing Marinette has got his back, because Plagg? Is so done with this nonsense.“Morning, Princess.” Plagg’s tiny white fangs winked at her as he grinned widely. “Sleep well?”“Yes.” Marinette eyed him. “But you left something in my bed.”“A gift.” The little cat smirked. “Unless you’d rather have a beheaded mouse or a dead bird?”





	Interlude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [midnightstarlightwrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightstarlightwrites/gifts), [EdenDaphne (edelet)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edelet/gifts).
  * Inspired by [When Duty and Desire Meet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9523928) by [EdenDaphne (edelet)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edelet/pseuds/EdenDaphne), [midnightstarlightwrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightstarlightwrites/pseuds/midnightstarlightwrites). 



> Plagg is the master of evasion.

She didn’t realize that something was off at first.

When Marinette first woke up, it was in a familiar haze of warmth and comfort. The skylight above her was propped open and she could hear the bustle of the city - the hum of traffic and calls of pedestrians - slipping in with the late summer breeze. Her eyes slitted open momentarily before sliding shut to more fully appreciate the softness of her pillow and the warmth of her blankets, rolling her ankles and stretching her toes as she always did first thing.

Then her foot touched something that wasn’t her sheet, and her eyes flew wide as she was suddenly, all at once, _very, very awake._ Marinette jerked in an effort to quell the reflexive flailing as the arm draped over her waist shifted, tightening briefly as the person behind her grunted in sleepy annoyance at the foot colliding with his shin.

Chat. Chat was behind her and _oh God that wasn’t leather her heel had hit!_ Marinette froze, trying to relax as Chat yawned, burying his face against her back before he stilled. Marinette licked her lips, tentatively reaching back with her foot… just in case.

Nope, not leather. Thick fabric that she recognized as terry fleece was bunched up around his shin - he must have been wearing lounge pants before he’d come to her house last night. Her toes slipped down, sliding over smooth hairs and ridiculously soft skin, traced over the arch of Chat’s foot before coming into contact with individual toes that twitched at her touch.

_Yep,_ Marinette thought hysterically, trying not to squeak, _definitely not leather. Oh god oh god oh god ohhhh buddy-_

It wasn’t like they’d _planned_ on Chat staying the night. But she’d already been heading to bed when he appeared, and she hadn’t seen him - as Marinette _or_ as Ladybug - in weeks. He’d been out of town “on work”, and had just gotten back. Since he’d had nothing scheduled for the next day, he’d wanted to come over to say hello before he went to bed.

_"Time shifts are always a pain." He smiled ruefully. "I'll likely be awake until four or so, thinking it's noon. So I figured I'd just come say hello to you first - if you were awake, that is! I wouldn't have woken you up or anything if you had already been asleep. But, since, you know, your light was on and all..."_

_Marinette laughed. "Come on in, Kitty. I was just heading to bed, but I_ guess _I can stay up a little later to chat with you."_

He’d been so pale he was nearly gray. Clearly, whatever “work” he’d had to do over the summer was wearing him out, and the two weeks out of the country hadn’t helped matters much. 

She should have sent him home - even with the suit on, she could see he needed rest. But she’d missed him, so she had been selfish, letting him slide in the window and snuggle with her on the bed, trading kisses and cuddles as they talked. At some point he’d tugged the throw at the end of the bed up around her hips, and she only half-remembered the gesture as she’d discussed summer classes and the latest shenanigans of the gaming club on campus.

Clearly, sometime between then and now, they’d fallen asleep. The only saving grace was that she’d rolled over to face away from him, or her super cat would be down one secret identity. 

Not that she didn’t want to know. Temptation gnawed at her for a brief second before she shoved it away as unfair - it wouldn’t be right, to take that from him, when she was still being so dishonest herself. So Marinette forced herself to relax, savoring the warmth of his body as it pressed against her back and the weight of his arm as it curled over her ribs to rest against her stomach. His breath puffed slowly and evenly against the nape of her neck, and Marinette wondered if he was naturally a deep sleeper or if he’d just been that worn out?

She rather suspected the latter. Sighing, Marinette lifted his arm, bringing his hand up briefly to kiss his bare knuckles before she slid out from under it, letting it settle behind her and carefully not looking as she made her way down the stairs.

Tucked up on a shelf, behind her hand-sewn plushie collection, Tikki lay nestled in a shoebox, buried in a thick scarf and curled around a black shape that was snoring gently. Marinette tapped the side of the box. 

“Tikki!” She whispered. Big blue eyes blinked up at her a second before the black shape stretched out, resolving into a small black cat with acid green eyes that regarded her balefully. 

“Morning, Marinette.” Tikki yawned. “How did you sleep?”

“Oh, you know, pretty good, except for there’s a random guy in my bed.” Marinette hissed, trying for nonchalance as she shrugged. “I see you have a visitor, too.”

“Yes. This is Plagg.” Tikki nodded, and Marinette wasn’t sure if she was oblivious to or disregarding the gravity of the situation. 

“Morning, _Princess._ ” Plagg’s tiny white fangs winked at her as he grinned widely. “Sleep well?”

“Yes.” Marinette eyed him. “But you left something in my bed.”

“A gift.” The little cat smirked. “Unless you’d rather have a beheaded mouse or a dead bird?”

Marinette glared.

“Yeah, look, I can’t hold a transformation all night.” Plagg dropped the smirk and glared back. 

“So why didn’t you wake him up? You know that isn’t what he wanted!” Marinette scolded. 

“It wouldn’t have done any good - I would still have needed to recharge to transform, and he didn’t have it.” Plagg argued. “I wasn’t going to wake him up so he could freak out and break his neck trying to scale down your walls at three in the morning.”

“And what do you need to recharge?” Marinette asked patiently, hoping it wasn’t something exotic like pickled chilis or monkey brains, else they’d be in the same situation regardless.

“Cheese. Camembert, if you have it.” Plagg replied promptly.

Marinette blinked. “That’s it? Tikki could have helped you get that last night. I could have gotten that for you last night. Come on.”

Luckily, her parents were in the bakery, so Marinette didn’t have to explain the second kwami following her around. 

“No camembert,” Marinette muttered as she looked in the refrigerator. “But we have brie, cheddar and muenster.”

Behind her, Plagg gave a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Brie, then.”

Marinette cut out a few wedges, setting them on a plate in front of the tiny god while Tikki rummaged around for her usual cookies.

“So,” She continued, “why didn’t you just wake Tikki or I up last night? Chat is going to be really upset when he realizes he slept all night here and lost his transformation to boot. Even if you didn’t want me to wake up, Tikki knows where everything is - she could have gotten you this last night and Chat could have escaped with no issues.”

Plagg paused, chewing his cheese as he regarded her solemnly. “Because you two need to cut this shit out. I really can’t hold a transformation all night, and if you two had woken up and seen each other, it would have solved half of the problem.”

Marinette scrubbed at her face before turning to hunt up a coffee cup. “That doesn’t make it right, Plagg.”

“Little girl, I am the avatar of bad luck. I don’t care about _right._ ” Plagg sniffed.

“Stop being difficult, Plagg.” Tikki scolded. Sighing, she turned to Marinette. “Plagg won’t say it, but I will: Chat really needed the rest, too.”

Marinette paused, mug halfway to her lips as her gaze swung back to Plagg, who busied himself rearranging his cheese wedges.

“Yeah, well, little brat has been working too hard.” Plagg grumbled. “If he doesn’t relax and get some rest, he’s gonna keel over again. I don’t want to have to train a new wielder ‘cause this idiot worked himself into an early grave trying to please that asshat.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed as she sorted through his words. “Keel over _again?_ ”

Plagg looked at her and deliberately stuffed a chunk of cheese into his mouth.

“Oh, no. No no no.” Marinette glared. “That’s not going to fly - what is going on with my Kitty?”

“Can’t tell you.” Plagg snapped. “But if you’d have just, oh, I don’t know, _rolled over_ , you’d probably have figured it out on your own.”

“Well, _pardon me_ for respecting my partner too much for that!” Marinette snarled right back. “But you can’t just drop bombs like that and not expect me to-”

“Okay you two, that’s enough.” Tikki dropped her cookie and floated up between them. “Both of you care about Chat. Let’s just accept that as a fact, alright?”

Marinette nodded tightly, and Plagg grumbled around a chunk of cheese. Whether that was actual assent or not, Tikki took it as such and continued.

“What Plagg is _trying to say_ , Marinette, is that Chat relaxes more when he’s around you. Even if he’s not sleeping, he _is_ resting. And he needs that, whether he’ll admit it or not.”

Marinette whined. “But you said ‘keel over _again_.’ Like it happened _before.”_

“It has.” Plagg bit out. “Kid is nothing but a giant wad of work, stress, and anxiety. Even his ‘relaxation’ is scheduled.”

Marinette worried her lip. Chat had never struck her as being that uptight. “But why? He’s never seemed like… like _that_ much of an A-type, you know? I mean, maybe a little tightly wound, but not someone who would work himself into the ground voluntarily.”

Having run out of cheese, Plagg settled for simply staring at her.

“So this is something that isn’t necessarily _him_ , then.” Marinette hummed, piecing things together as she sipped her coffee. “And you wanted to force a reveal?”

“This has been going on too long.” Tikki pointed out.

“I know.” Marinette’s gaze dropped to study the linoleum, abashed. “But this wasn’t the right way, either.”

“True.” Tikki nodded. “But it was done with good intentions.”

“Right.” Marinette sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. Let’s just get you back upstairs and _not_ give poor Chat a panic attack, okay?”

 

Adrien was about five seconds from a full-blown panic attack. He hadn’t _meant_ to fall asleep, but he hadn’t seen Marinette more than a few times over the summer, and he’d desperately wanted to visit her when he’d finally crawled off of the plane last night. 

His summer had been _busy._ Granted, he’d still have to miss school for the Paris fashion weeks in January (and wouldn’t starving himself to fit the men’s line be a treat?), but he’d be allowed to give the New York shows in November and Milan ones in February a miss before gearing up for Paris in July. But his father had taken advantage of the break between semesters, and his relatively light summer course load, to have Nathalie schedule him for a mass of shoots and fittings that he wouldn’t be able to do once the heavier fall courses started back up.

But as relatively pampered as his globe-trotting lifestyle was, Adrien was still working on his doctoral thesis, and taking online summer courses for his secondary degree in business. Even getting to the Gaming Club (which did run through the summer, despite the lower attendance) was a challenge: he only managed it about twice a month. His patrol runs with Ladybug had been cut down by about half, and still he was only able to visit Marinette about once a week while he was in town. And even if that amounted to twice a week between Adrien and Chat, it wasn’t enough. 

So when he’d landed back in Paris after two weeks in New Zealand shooting winter looks, he’d been exhausted and desperate for honest affection, instead of the catty model behavior and suck-ups looking to snag the boss’ son. And instead of going to bed as he should have done, Adrien had ignored his cold sheets and his too-large room and climbed in Marinette’s window to let her soothing chatter and warm embraces comfort him.

And had apparently crashed harder than the meteorites he was still trying to learn about. Because the last thing he remembered was tugging the throw blanket up her legs over her sleepy protests and thinking that he’d leave in _just a minute_ , and now the sun was streaming down through the open skylight and the bedside clock was blinking 8:23am at him.

And he was _Adrien,_ not Chat.

Cue the panic. 

“Plagg?” Adrien called as loudly as he dared, in case Marinette was around. As if she hadn’t probably already seen him! Could Plagg have held on until after Marinette had woken up and gone downstairs? He didn’t hear movement in the room, but what if she was just hiding, traumatized, in the bathroom or something? Because she’d woken up to the _wrong man_ in her bed! “Plagg! This isn’t funny!”

There was a sound of footsteps below, but it was curiously muffled, like it wasn’t in the room. Panicking, Adrien did the only thing he could think of: he yanked the blanket up and flipped the pillow he was laying on up and over his head.

_This is my life._ He thought hysterically. _I’m a twenty-four year old man, hiding under my girlfriend’s blankets with a pillow over my face, desperately hoping her mom won’t catch me. Please just shoot me._

“Is he good?” Marinette’s voice asked softly.

“Yeah, he’s covered.” Plagg’s voice drawled from somewhere close by, before Adrien had a chance to wonder who she was talking to. ...Then he got the opportunity to panic because _Oh my God, she knows about Plagg?_ And why was there no screaming? He totally thought there would have been screaming.

“Honestly, I’m not sure whether he’s awake or not.” Plagg continued, as if his chosen wasn’t busy trying not to fly apart in a fit of nerves. “He’s got a pillow over his head, so either he’s hiding from the sunlight or he’s trying to suffocate himself.”

Scowling under the pillow, Adrien raised his middle finger in the direction of Plagg’s voice.

“Let’s go with sleeping.” Marinette sounded amused as he heard her mount the stairs towards the bed. “And if he is, let him sleep. You said that nobody was expecting him today? Good. I mean, wake him up before Alya comes over at two, but otherwise, let him sleep. I’ll be downstairs in the bakery helping out, so no rush.”

She was too good for him, Adrien thought, feeling absurdly grateful that Marinette wasn’t going to try to yank off the pillow and expose him for the cowardly fraud he was. Something heavy made a faint _thunk_ as it was set down near her bed, and Adrien felt a hand touch his leg, trailing gently down the curve of his calf and tracing the dip of his heel before patting his foot fondly and letting go.

Tears pricked the corners of Adrien’s eyes: Marinette really _was_ too good for him. He heard her walk down the stairs, and waited for the trapdoor of her room to close behind her before lifting the pillow to glare at Plagg.

“Did you get enough beauty sleep?” The tiny little troll smirked at him.

“‘Trying to suffocate myself?’” Adrien deadpanned in response.

“Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking about it.” Plagg sniggered. “Either way, your ‘Princess’ left you some coffee - better drink it while it’s still hot.”

Adrien glanced at the bedside table to see that, yes, there was a mug sitting there, next to a small pastry box from the bakery below.

Sighing, Adrien sat up, pulling his legs up to sit comfortably as he pulled the mug and box towards him.

“Just...tell me what the hell happened.” He mumbled into his coffee, dreading the answer.

“Well, contrary to all previous indications, your girlfriend actually has the self control to wake up next to you and _not_ look at you.”

“Are you telling me you did that _on purpose?”_ Adrien huffed, glaring at the coffee.

“Excuse me?” Plagg glared. “Look, _Sleeping Beauty_ , I’m not the one who suited up and hauled himself out of the house at half-past midnight to visit his girlfriend, then fell asleep in it. I’m a god, but I’m not not able to hold the transformation infinitely.”

Adrien sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Guess I lucked out this time.”

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Or didn’t, depending on your point of view.”

“Because waking up to her screaming would have totally been the better option.” Adrien muttered, picking up the danish and taking a bite. After weeks of extreme calorie-counting and pitiful meals, the fruit pastry was almost too sweet to handle. Still, Adrien forced himself to take another bite before he put it down and resolved to eat the rest later.

The coffee was better: a little bit of cream to mellow the bitterness, but no sugar to make it too sweet for him to handle. Adrien paused, then sipped again. “Did she use actual cream in this?”

“What do you mean?” Plagg asked, drifting closer and snagging a cube of cheese out of the box.

“It’s...rich.” Adrien considered. “Really rich. Like, smooth? Did you see what she put in it?”

“Well, she didn’t use that no-fat, no-taste crap you’re used to.” Plagg said. “It was in a small carton.”

Heavy cream, then. Adrien sipped the coffee, savoring the unusual treat. He couldn’t remember ever getting to sample actual cream.

Still, he finished his coffee and picked at the croissant before deciding his best bet was to write his girlfriend a thank-you note and head out. Risking it, Adrien trotted down the stairs and scrounged around her desk for a spare piece of paper and a pen.

He was just about to sign when a thought occurred to him.

“Plagg?” He glanced up at the kwami floating over his shoulder. “How did she find you?”

“I wasn’t hiding.” Plagg said. “I needed food to recharge, and she got it for me.”

“She didn’t, I don’t know, get upset? Freak out? Why didn’t you just wake _me_ up?” Adrien asked, remembering his own reaction to Plagg’s appearance. If finding a tiny black cat floating in your room demanding food wasn’t a good reason to scream, what was?

“What, could you have gotten me cheese? I didn’t see you shove any in your pajama pants last night.” Plagg snorted. “And don’t worry about your ‘Princess’; she’s not as easily rattled as you think.”

 

Luckily, it was one of the nights when the gaming club was supposed to meet. Adrien hadn’t seen Nino much over the summer either, so the two had arranged to meet up at the campus coffee shop before heading over to 03B to set up for the ongoing tabletop games. 

Not that he would be able to stay too late - there was an assignment he’d put off the past few days that was due soon. And since it was one of the last for the summer semester, Adrien wanted to do well on it. Another fitting for next year’s spring line was scheduled during the day, and there was an online lecture to attend in the morning.

Still, he was grateful for the time with his friend as he swung towards coffee shop, only to pull up short when he saw extra people at the outdoor table.

“Adrien!” Nino glanced up, raising a hand in greeting. Next to him, Alya and Marinette looked up and smiled, Marinette offering a cheery wave. “Go get your drink man, we got here a little early.”

Adrien emerged a few minutes later with his drink (decaf coffee with fat free creamer) and took the extra seat, silently thankful that the table was one of the round cafe-style ones and not the regular rectangle ones. Next to him, Marinette offered him a bright grin.

“Hey, stranger! Long time no see!”

_If you only knew._ Adrien thought, laughing nervously and trying not to blush. “I know, right? Been a while.”

“You’re looking pretty good, man, guess the Kiwis agreed with you.” Nino added.

“Yeah?” Adrien sipped his coffee, eyebrow raised questioningly. 

“Yeah.” Nino nodded. “Last time I saw you, you were looking a little ragged. You’re looking better now. More rested? Whatever, how was New Zealand?”

Adrien grinned and launched into a tale of how a model had greeted a photographer at a party, only to find that not everybody appreciated the French custom of cheek bussing. The man’s wife, least of all. Alya recounted the college shenanigans of her teenage sisters, who were semi-stalking some cute boy in their class as he worked his summer job at an ice cream parlor (“They must have eaten _gallons_ of ice cream, I swear!”). Marinette had made a batch of cupcakes for tonight’s gaming club, and hoped there would be enough. Nino told him of how his grandfather and cousin had come to visit from Morocco, his fingers casually laced with his girlfriend’s under the table as the other waved expressively in the air.

Adrien glanced at Marinette’s hand as she gripped her cup, laughing at something Nino had said, and wished he could reach out and entwine their hands together as casually. To feel her hand under his, or have it casually rest on his thigh as she spoke to friends.

How he envied Nino and his easy romance.

“Adrien?”

Adrien glanced up into Marinette’s bright eyes as she gave him a curious look.

“Yes?” He asked. “Sorry, I zoned out for a second.”

“I was just asking if you’re ready to go?” Marinette gestured to her phone, showing him the time. “Nino and I need to start setting up, if you want to walk with us?”

“Yeah, sure.” Adrien replied, smiling. “I’d like that.”

“Great! Are you done with your coffee, or are you taking it with you?” Marinette asked, gesturing towards his cup as she stood.

“Finished.” Adrien said. “I had a cup earlier, and I need to be able to sleep tonight.”

“Okay then.” Marinette scooped his cup up, taking hers and toting them towards the garbage as Nino and Alya moved off of the patio towards the sidewalk. “Let’s go!”

Adrien blinked in surprise as she reached out, casually encircling his wrist with her fingers and tugged him along. She turned, saying something to him, but all Adrien could see was the afternoon sun glinting off of her hair, and her smile flash as she talked. The gentle pressure of her fingers around his wrist burned like a brand.

Maybe, just maybe, his dream wasn’t so far off, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read "When Duty and Desire Meet" go do it! It's a great reverse-crush, college AU fic, with amazing artwork.
> 
> So, as the title suggests, this story is meant to be an interlude between chapters seven and eight of "When Duty and Desire Meet". 
> 
> I noticed in the author notes at the end of seven, that it was said the next chapter is going to pick up at their six month anniversary with Chat telling Marinette about how and he and Ladybug met. If my math is right (and it almost never is) that's four months after chapter seven, which took place in April, putting six months smack in August right before the fall term begins. And I wondered to myself how they would manage to go that long without fessing up, since it was very clearly something that was eating at them when chapter seven concluded.
> 
> So my crazy fan theory was that Gabriel ramped up Adrien’s summer schedule in order to allow for a lighter fall/winter one, and Adrien has been out of the country traveling for work most of the summer. And while Plagg hasn't made an appearance in the original fic thus far, I hope that he came across well. Which was basically as a tiny little troll who cares but won't admit it, (and whose evasion skills would make politicians weep with envy).
> 
> There’s a few elements in here that haven’t been addressed in the story thus far, like Adrien’s social anxiety, as well as how he must eat (or not) in order to maintain a model figure. But overall, I did my best to keep it canon-compliant with the story that has been told thus far.


End file.
